Gallery: Batkid Saves San Francisco

It takes a lot to warm the iced-over ventricles of our heart, but San Franciso has done just that today by turning the entire city into Gotham to make a little boy's dreams come true.

Miles, 5, has been fighting leukemia for most of his young life, a situation that inspired the Make A Wish Foundation to move the planets and heavens themselves to give the young Batman fan an adventure worthy of a summer blockbuster. So, for the past week or so, San Franciscans of all backgrounds banded together en masse along with Make A Wish to turn their fair city into Gotham, complete with supervillians the Riddler and Penguin, as well as the damsels in distress oft found in the fabled city.

It all came to a head Friday morning, when the only one left who could save the day was Batkid, and Batkid alone. Thousands of San Franciscans, many with Batkid signs and t-shirts, showed up to cheer Batkid on as he met with Batman before heading off in the Batmobile to save a Damsel in Distress and take on the Riddler.

A few shots from Twitter of the first part of Batkid's day:

Even if San Franciscans were unable to be there in person to cheer Batkid on, they did so with signs of support found all Gotham, including from Zynga:

The San Francisco Chronicle has published a special edition, which it is handing out free across the city:

The title, though steeped in the make believe of today, couldn't be further from reality. Batkid has done as much for San Francisco as the City By the Bay has done for him.